//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Into the Fray // Story: A Light in the Darkness // by Silentpegasus //------------------------------// Chapter 4 Into the fray. Sky Blazer woke up feeling very rejuvenated. He got out of bed, stretched his wings and decided to make an early start, he put on his long coat and saddle bags, found Doctor Syringe and Nurse Read Heart and thanked them again for their kindness. As he made it to the lobby he saw a very familiar rainbow mane’d mare. “Hey! You got out that quick?” Rainbow asked him as she flew up to him. “Yeah, they said I was healed so they discharged me this morning.” he said with a grin on his face. The two trotted out of the hospital and made took flight towards Ponyville. The two touched down in the town square. Sky had never seen such a lively little town, so many shop to see and so many things to see. “Hey Rainbow, thanks for saving me.” Sky said as a blush appeared on his face. “What are you talking about? You saved us from that manticore.” Rainbow said with a surprised look on her face. “Yeah, but you came back to save me. Any-pony else would have probably just ran away.” He said giving her a grin. “True, I’m pretty awesome like that. But I still owe you in a big way.” “How about being my tour guide? I don’t know my way around here so well.” Sky asked the rainbow mare. “Sorry, maybe tomorrow I gotta go to work. But i’ll introduce you to my friends.” she said as she led sky to an old hollowed out tree in the center of town. The two stepped inside the tree Sky’s eyes boggled at the amount of books that laid before him. “Wow, that’s a lot of books.” “Yeah, my friend Twilight is the librarian here. Let me go get her in the mean time relax.” Rainbow flew to the upper levels to fetch her friend. Sky sat down and began reading the first book he found. Daring Do and the quest for the Sapphire Statue. Excellent a classic. Sky began to read, reading the action book made his mind wander and he began to remember his child hood. Rainbow returned with lavender unicorn with a purple mane and violet eyes. “Hey Twi, this is my friend Sky Blazer.” “Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle, I’m the librarian here.” “Nice to meet you Twilight. You can call me Sky.” Sky said as he set his book down. “He’s the stallion I told you about.” Twilight then looked at Sky with a surprised look. “You’re the one who saved Rainbow and the Cutie Mark Crusaders?” “The Cutie Mark what?” Sky said in confusion. “The three fillies you saved.” Rainbow interjected. “Oh those three, yeah thats me.” he said as he scratched the back of his mane. Rainbow’s attention shifted to the book he was holding in his hooves. “You like Daring Do too?” she squealed in excitement. “Yeah, It’s an old favorite of mine.” Rainbow realizing that she would be late for work said her good bye’s and darted out the door, leaving only Sky and Twilight in the library. Sky returned to his book and began flipping through the pages. Twilight then descended the stair case and started a conversation, they talked for what seemed like hours until Twilight looked at the clock and realized that she had to get going. “Well, I need to go shopping for food and some supplies, you want to come along?” “Sure, lets go.” Sky said as he got up and accompanied the lavender mare out the door. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The two ventured out into Ponyville. It was a nice little town filled with shops and all different kinds of ponies. After a small stop at the quill shop they decided to take a break for lunch at a local restaurant. After the two ordered their meals Twilight tried to strike up a conversation. “So Sky, you’re not from around here are you?” “No, last major city I was in was Trottingham, before that Baltimare, and before that I was in Detrot and so on and so on.” “Wow, so you like to travel?” “You could say that.” Sky said as he sat back in a relaxed position. “What about your parents, do they like the fact that you travel around so much?” Sky took a moment to gather his thoughts. “My parents are dead. They died when I was eight.” “Oh I’m so sorry.. I didn’t mean too..” “Twilight It’s fine. I was put in an orphanage soon afterwards, when I was ten I decided that I had enough and went off on my own. Been that way ever since.” He said as he sat back in his seat. “I’m sorry to hear that. So how long have you been on the road for?” “Well, what day is today?” “Today is Wednesday, June twenty fifth.” “Oh okay. Then I’ve been on the road for eleven years, three months, four days, six hours, twenty one minutes and thirty seconds. But who’s counting?” he said as he let out a small laugh. “Wow, how did you survive for so long?” “Trust me, I’ve had to do a lot of things that wouldn’t fall under the categories of ‘decent’ or ‘honorable’.” “Okay, I’ll take your word for it but how do you deal with the loneliness?” “Look Twilight I really don’t want to talk about this right now. I just got out of the hospital this morning and I really don’t think that you need-” Sky stopped as he felt a chill flow down his spine. “Hey you okay?” Twilight asked as she raised an eyebrow. Sky then grabbed Twilight and threw her under neath the table just as he saw a pink blob fly over his shoulder, sending their meals crashing on the ground. The two the rose from underneath the table, Twilight was trying to collect herself and Sky was looking around for whatever tried to attack them. “Ugh...That hurt.” Sky turned his attention towards the bushed where he saw a bright pink earth pony trying to get the sticks and twigs out of her mane. “Who are you? And why are you following us?” Sky asked as he glared down at the pink mare. The pink mare had just gotten to her hooves and glared back at Sky. “Wow! You’re good, no-pony’s ever been able to detect my sneaking ability before. How did you do that any way Blazey? I’m Pinkie Pie by the way.” she said as she hopped up and down around Sky Blazer with glee. Blazey? Twilight now rushed to the pink mare’s side. “Pinkie!! How many times have I told you don’t tackle hug me in public.” Twilight said with an annoyed look on her face. “Wait how did you know my name? I’ve never met you before.” Sky said as he eyed the pink mare. “Oh, thats easy I just skimmed the last chapter and found your name.” she said as she stopped bouncing. “What?” Sky said in an aggravated tone. “Pinkie, how many times do I have to tell you. We. Are. Not. In. A. Story.” Twilight said releasing a sigh knowing it was pointless to try and explain it to her. “Well suit yourselves then. Humph!” Pinkie said as she stuck her nose up in the air and began to walk away. “Hey, wait a minute!” Sky said as he put his hoof on Pinkie’s shoulder “That still doesn’t explain why you were following me.” “I was following you to find out what you like so I can set up the party to your liking.” She said with a huge grin on her face. “Party? What party?” “Um hello! Your ‘Welcome to Ponyville Party’ silly.” she said as she glanced at the clock tower. “Oh still so much to set up, gotta go bye.” The pink mare suddenly disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Sky then looked at Twilight with a very confused look on his face. “Twilight, what just happened?” “Oh that’s just Pinkie being Pinkie, she’s always like that.” “Was she serious about throwing me a party?” “Afraid so. She throws one whenever she gets an excuse.” Twilight said with a chuckle. “Alright, then so what’s next on the list?” Sky asked getting ready to go. “I need to go to Carousel Boutique.” Twilight said as she glanced at her to-do list.